You're Getting Married!
by HelloKeke
Summary: I was the loser sitting out on the back porch steps all alone hopelessly in love with a man who was getting married to another woman. He's not the one for me. DerekxCasey


**This was one of my first ideas for a fanfic so I hope y'all like it :)**

**I don't own Life With Derek.**

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><p>"Y-you're getting…m-married?" I stuttered as I stared up incredulously at Derek, who eagerly nodded, his smile getting bigger by the second.<p>

"Yeah, isn't it great? I woke up the other morning and I thought 'Jessica is amazing. She's the perfect girl for me' So, I proposed! And she, obviously, said yes. I mean, come on, who would say no to Derek Venturi, right?" Derek told me excitedly. My face at this point was one of complete and utter shock and I was glad for it. It was hiding the fact that the man in front of me had basically just ripped out my heart, shred it into millions of tiny pieces, stomped on it, and then spit on it for good measure.

"So, what do you think, Case? By the way, Jess wants you to be one of her bridesmaids at the wedding. I wanted you to be my best man since we're best friends and all but Jess said that'd be weird," Derek told me happily. I blinked, shaking my head, and FINALLY forced my shock away replacing it with the biggest fakest smile ever.

"Wow! That-that's awesome, Derek! Yeah, I'd love to be a bridesmaid. Wow, you and Jess… that's…that's awesome," I lied, smiling on the outside, but on the inside I felt like this was the end. I'd never told him how I felt and now I'd lost him.

**3 months later**

"Casey, are you alright? You haven't said a word all night," my mom said as she came up to me, taking the cup of wine I'd been chugging out of my hand. I frowned but gave her the smallest smile I could muster up.

"Sorry, mom, I'm just not in a partying mood," I told her depressingly. Why would I be in a good mood? I was at the bridal shower to the wedding of the guy I was and had always been in love with to another frikin' woman!

"Honey, maybe you should go lie down. You've had quite a bit of wine," my mom told me with one of her gentle, caring, motherly smiles. I offered her another tiny smile in return and nodded before getting up and going out to the back porch to sit on the steps that led into the backyard.

I couldn't believe I was still here. I had just graduated from Queens and I'd had BIG plans to move to New York City with my dad and get started on my dancing career. But then Derek told me he was getting married and I had to stick around to help Jessica plan her wedding to the step-brother I'd been in love with for as long as I could remember.

I hated Jessica right now yet at the same time I envied her because I secretly wished it was me in that house with a big happy smile on my face, holding Derek's hand, and enjoying the company of family and friends.

But no, I wasn't Jessica, the love of his life. I was Casey, his step-sister, his best friend. I was the loser sitting out on the back porch steps all alone hopelessly in love with a man who was getting married to another woman.

"Screw my life," I groaned out loud, running a hand over my face in frustration. The worst part was being a bridesmaid, having to look Jessica in the eye and pretend like I was ecstatic over the fact that Derek and she were getting married, pretend like I wasn't jealous, and pretend like I wasn't completely in love with her fiancé. I could barely stand to watch the two together. They really were perfect for each other and It made me sick to my stomach.

"Casey?" a voice asked from behind me suddenly and I almost growled when I recognized the voice to be Jessica.

"What's wrong? Why aren't you inside celebrating with everyone else?" she asked in concern. And, I don't know, maybe it was the wine I'd drunk or maybe it was just me finally owning up to my feelings but suddenly I got up and turned to face her.

"I don't wanna celebrate, okay? I-I'm not okay with this, at all! How can I be? I've loved him for so long now I can't even remember a time when I didn't love him! You think it's easy to just smile and pretend like everything's okay? Everything's not ok! I hate this! I-I hate… you," I cried, my voice breaking slightly as tears threatened to fall. Jessica looked shocked to the point where she was speechless so I continued, though, I knew I wasn't fighting for Derek anymore, now I was bowing out gracefully.

"I-I'm so sorry, Jessica. I… didn't want it to be like this but I can't help it that I love him. God, I love him… that's why, I'm sorry, but I can't watch him marry you. I can't be your bridesmaid. I accept the fact that he's chosen you. I mean, why wouldn't he? You're perfect for each other. I think it's time… that I bowed out respectfully. I'm really sorry, Jessica but I can't go to the wedding and I hope that someday… you can forgive me for this," I said, tears had begun to fall at this point and Jessica still looked shocked.

"I'm sorry," I repeated before I ran back into the house, almost crashing into Derek on the way in. I shoved past him and ran over to the front door as he called out my name before I threw open the door and ran out of the house blindly. I didn't know where I was going but I had to get away from him.

**Three weeks later**

"Casey, are you really not coming to the wedding?" my mom asked as she and Emily stood by my bedroom door. I looked up at them, seeing they were all dressed up for the wedding and nodded before returning to my packing. I was leaving. I'd packed my bags and I had a one way flight ticket tonight to New York City. No one except my mom and Emily knew, though.

"Case, why don't you just tell him? Come to the wedding! Tell him how you feel, how you've always felt!" Emily cried out suddenly and I looked up at her wide eyed. My mom was in the room! But… she didn't look shocked.

"Mom?" I asked quietly. My mom smiled and came over to me before pulling me into a hug.

"Casey, you're my daughter. I know you better than anyone else ever will. I've known how you feel about Derek for years now. I just… didn't know it would come to this…. You know, I agree with Emily, you should at least tell him. He's so upset that you've been avoiding him for the past three weeks, he doesn't know anything, and he's so hurt that his best friend won't be there for him today," my mom told me. I'd started crying already and I kept my arms wrapped around my mom.

"Mom, t-that's exactly why I-I don't want t-to tell him. I'm his b-best friend, his step-sister, that's all I'll ever b-be to him. I may be in love with him, mom… but he will always be in love with her," I said, my voice cracking as I angrily reached up and wiped away my tears.

"Casey, listen to me, if you don't tell him you'll regret it for the rest of your life. You'll always keep thinking back to the 'what if'. What if you had told him you loved him? You'll be haunted by that thought of never knowing what could've happened had you just told him the truth," my mom told me gently. I pulled away from my mom's embrace and wiped away the remainders of my tears.

"Mom, I love you, but I'm sorry. I belong in New York with my career and Derek belong here with his perfect girl and his dream come true," I said firmly, my voice having a 'that's final' tone to it.

My mom sighed but nodded in defeat as she stepped back and Emily came up to me so we could say our last final goodbyes

I parked my car a little ways down from the church and looked up at the building nervously. No, I wasn't here to try to win Derek over in some cheesy magic movie moment. I'd come to say goodbye to Lizzie. I knew she'd never forgive me if I left without at least telling her. I pulled out my phone and called her telling her to meet me out front.

I climbed out of my car and walked down the sidewalk until I was in front of the church. Lizzie came running out, a big smile on her face, as she came running over to me.

"Casey! Did you change your mind? Are you coming inside?" Lizzie asked excitedly as she hugged me. I ran my fingers through her hair as she pulled back to look at me.

"No, Lizard, I'm sorry. I just came to say goodbye to you," I told her with a small smile. Lizzie furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she stared at me.

"Goodbye? What do you mean?" she asked, pulling away from me.

"I'm leaving, Liz. I have to go catch my flight to New York City and I wanted to say goodbye before I left," I told her, hoping she wouldn't get mad. Her face fell as she looked up at me.

"New York? But…Casey, you-you can't," she muttered.

"Don't worry, Liz, I'll be back for the holidays and I'll call you all-" I began to say but she suddenly cut me off.

"No, Casey, you have to go inside. You have to tell Derek the truth. Casey, please," she begged and my eyes widened at her. How did she know about my feelings for Derek too?

"Come on, Casey, almost everyone knows. It's kinda obvious. I think he's the only one who doesn't see it. Hell, even Jessica knows! I heard her talking to her sister about it a couple weeks ago. She said she wasn't sure about the wedding anymore because of you and she felt like she and Derek didn't connect like you and Derek. She was saying how he's always talking about you, telling her stories of you guys in college and she sees the happiness in his eyes. And the last few weeks he's been so depressed because you just disappeared and refused to come to the wedding. Casey, even Jessica can see what you two have! You guys are the only ones who are blind!" Lizzie cried, her eyes welling up with unshed tears.

"Lizzie, I'm not blind, though. I can admit that I love him. God, I'm completely, a hundred percent in love with him… but he's getting married which means he doesn't even see me that way… and he never will," I said in a comforting tone trying to get her to understand that Derek and I would never be. Lizzie frowned up at me.

"Casey, just try, please. For me!" she cried and I felt my heart wrench at the sight. I bit my lip, pulling her into another hug before I placed a kiss on her forehead.

"I'm sorry, Liz. You'll understand someday. Tell Edwin, Marti, and Simon I'm sorry for leaving like this… I love you, Lizard," I whispered before pulling away and wiping away her tears.

"I'll see you soon," I told her gently before I turned and walked back to my car. Time to start a new life.

**Lizzie's Pov**

"Ed, please! Help me!" I begged as I gave Edwin my best puppy dog eyes. Ed frowned at me but nodded reluctantly. I grinned victoriously and grabbed him by the elbow pulling him over to the room where Derek and his groomsmen were getting ready in.

"We have to do this. We have to tell him," I said mostly to myself as Edwin opened the door and walked in. I followed him in and when Derek noticed me, he turned around with a shaky smile.

"Hey, Liz, what's up?" he asked. Ed and I walked right up to him and Ed placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Derek, you might wanna sit for this, bro," he said dramatically. I rolled my eyes as Derek nodded, sitting down on a couch while Ed and I stood in front of him. His friends had all stopped what they were doing and were now watching us.

"Derek… I just saw Casey," I admitted. Derek's eyes widened and he shot up off the couch.

"What, where? Is she here?" he asked frantically. Ed put a hand on his shoulder and lowered him back down to the couch as I frowned.

"No, she was… outside…a while ago," I told him. Derek looked so confused, I felt bad for him.

"Derek, I don't know how to tell you this but she wouldn't do it so damn it, I'm gonna do it for her," I said which just made Derek look even more confused. I took in a deep breath and put on the most serious face I could muster.

"Derek, the reason Casey refused to come to the wedding was because she didn't wanna watch you get married to someone else… She loves you, Derek! She's loved you for so long! Since before Jessica, hell, since before college! She just couldn't tell you. She always thought and still thinks that all she'll ever be to you is your best friend!" I cried. There was a round of 'finally' and 'about time someone told him' comments from his friends and Derek stared up at all of us.

"She told Jessica at the bridal shower that she loved you and she just couldn't be here today and watch you get married," I told him. Derek blinked as he processed the information.

"C-Casey… loves me?" he breathed out after a minute or so.

"Yes!" everyone in the room shouted at him.

"A-and Jessica knew? I asked her what had happened and she said she didn't know…," Derek mused quietly.

"She knew, Derek. I even heard her telling her sister she wasn't sure about this wedding because she knew Casey was in love with you and she said that it seemed like you loved her too… you just didn't know it. I heard her saying that she was so sick of hearing you talk about all the things that happened in college with you and Casey. She said that was all you ever talked about," I told him.

"Oh-ho yeah," Sam called out from in between Ralph and another one of Derek's friends, Dave. Derek shot Sam a 'be quiet or I'll murder you' look and the guys all laughed. I rolled my eyes at them all. Men.

"Derek, you have to tell me now, if you feel anything for Casey, at all, I need to know," I said seriously. Derek looked up at me and raised an eyebrow.

"Why?" he asked. I looked down to the floor and bit my lip nervously.

"Because Casey came here to say goodbye to me, she's on her way to the airport. She's leaving to New York…now," I said before looking back up at him. Derek's eyed widened to the point where I thought they would fall out and he shot up off the couch.

"New York?" he cried out.

"Come on, D, go get your girl!" Ralph said and Derek looked over at his friends.

"Everyone knows you wanna be with her, D,"another one of his friends said. I smiled at them silently thanking them for their help as Sam walked up to Derek and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Derek, man, I've been your best friend for forever. I've seen how happy you are when you're with Casey and I've seen how depressed you get when she's not with you. You may not realize it now, man, but you love her and if you don't move your ass, you're gonna lose the only girl that'll ever love your annoying ass so much," Sam told him. Derek smiled up at Sam for a second before he frowned.

"What about Jess? What am I supposed to tell her?" Derek asked softly. Surprisingly, Ed stepped forward and looked his brother in the eye.

"Derek, you said she's the perfect girl for you but you know what? The whole point of being in love with someone is to not be perfect, to have arguments, to fight, then makeup. To know that even though you're not perfect for each other you'll always have each other. Derek, you need your imperfect girl because she's the one who will always keep you on your toes. You need Casey, she's your imperfect girl," Ed said wisely. There was a long silence that followed and I could've sworn I heard crickets chirping.

"Derek, please, go," I begged quietly.

"Yeah, come on, D, go get her," Sam added.

"Yeah, go, Derek!" Ralph shouted and his friends plus Ed and I erupted into cheers, trying to get him to move his ass. Derek looked around at us all cheering for him and he grinned suddenly.

"You're right, I gotta go, I need a car," he cried suddenly. Sam, Ed, and Ralph all stepped up at the same time offering to drive him. Derek picked Sam and ran out of the room with him.

I looked over at Ed and frowned.

"What are we doing? Let's go with him!" I cried grabbing Ed and dragging him after Derek and Sam.

**Derek's Pov**

"Derek, you're not supposed to see the bride before the wedding!" Jessica's sister, Tammy, cried as I burst into the room where Jessica and all her bridesmaids where.

"Derek!" Jessica gasped when she saw me. I ran right up to her, Sam, Ralph, Ed, and Lizzie behind me.

"Derek? What's going on?" Nora, who was helping a bridesmaid with her dress, asked in concern. I ignored her only to get straight to the point.

"Jessica, I care about you, I really do and I'm sorry that I have to do what I'm about to do," I said quickly. Jessica seemed like she knew what was coming because she sighed and nodded.

"I'm sorry, Jess but… I just realized… I'm in love with Casey. She's always been there for me, always, and I was too blind to see that she loved me," I said trying to make this as quick as possible.

"Derek, just… I know," Jess said suddenly. I raised an eyebrow down at her and she gave me a big sad smile.

"I was afraid you loved her this whole time but… I thought… if we got married, you'd forget her. I should be sorry, Derek," she said before she slipped off her engagement ring and put it into my hand.

"Derek, her flight's in half an hour!" Lizzie cried from behind me. I shook my head and placed a kiss on Jessica's cheek.

"Thanks, Jess," I told her before Sam, Ralph, Ed, and Lizzie dragged me off.

**Casey's Pov**

"Headed to New York?" the elderly lady in front of me asked as we stood in a line with hundreds of other people. I smiled down at her and nodded, showing her my ticket.

"Yeah, just graduated from college, heading to the big city," I told her. She smiled at me.

"I am too. I'm going to my grandson's wedding, apparently he met the girl of his dreams. I'm so happy for him, he's so in love, you know?" the lady said. I bit my lip and nodded.

"Yeah, I do," I said quietly.

"Oh, happily in love, are you?" she asked warmly and I gave her a small forced smile.

"Not exactly... "I told her and her smile fell.

"Oh, well you know what they say, sweetheart; If he's the one for you, he'll be yours in the end," she said, trying to comfort me. I chuckled softly and shook my head.

"He's getting married... right now," I said quietly and the lady gave me a pained look.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she whispered. I nodded.

"No, it's fine. I guess I'm just not the one for him, right?" I asked, my eyes tearing up.

"You're wrong," a voice said from behind me suddenly and the old lady's eyes widened as I froze, not daring to turn around.

"You've always been the one for me, Case. I was just too blind to see it," he said quietly and I forced myself to slowly turn around and meet his eyes. He looked a mess, like he'd run all the way to the airport and I saw Sam, Ralph, Liz, and Ed a couple feet behind him, grinning like idiots.

"Case, you've always been the one that's always been there for me. That's why you've always been my best friend… I never thought… you'd ever even think of me any other way. I'm not gonna lie, Case. I had a crush on you for a long time back in our first years at college but… we were best friends and I didn't wanna ruin what we had by telling you how I felt," Derek continued as my eyes moved to stare into his. I knew the tears in my eyes were overflowing but I couldn't stop them.

"Then I met Jess and she distracted me from you and all these years I was fooling myself into thinking I loved her when… it's always been you, Case," Derek said, his eyes welling up with unshed tears as he moved closer to me.

"And I'm sorry it took me so long to realize it but… I'm here now, Casey… and…" he continued softly as he stopped only a few inches in front of me, making me tilt my head back to look into his eyes.

"I love you," He breathed out and my heart jumped.

"I love you, Casey MacDonald," He said to me and suddenly, I smiled so widely up at him and buried myself into his chest as I let my tears run free, my body shaking with sobs. He loved me! I felt him wrap his arms around me tightly and I looked up at him.

"D-Derek, I-"I began to say but he cut me off, putting a hand on the back of my neck and softly connecting our lips.

Some people say they see fireworks, others say they hear church bells chiming or a chorus of angels singing but I'll be honest, I'm not that unrealistic. When I kissed the love of my life for the first time, I was in a crowded airport and all I heard was the cheers of everyone around us as Derek held me tight in his arms. All I felt was the feel of his soft warm lips on mine and a joy in my heart that was so overwhelming, I thought my heart would burst.

When he pulled away, I looked up into his eyes, grinning widely, and I finally summoned up the courage to tell him what I'd wanted to tell him for so many years.

"God, I love you so much, Derek Venturi," I said happily and Derek smirked down at me.

"Well thank God because if I got rejected after all that, I think I'd go hide under a rock for the rest of my life," he joked and I rolled my eyes at him before pulling him into another kiss.

After all these years… Derek Venturi, my stepbrother, my best friend… was finally what I want him to be; simply mine.

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